Normandy had been created in 911 when French King - Charlse the Simple - had given lands to a Viking called Rollo, or rolf, in the hope that he would act as a guard dog against other Viking raiders. In 1027 or 1028, William was born, the illegitimate son of the ill-tempered Robert I, Duke of Normandy who was called the Robert the Devil, and Herleve, the daughter of a tanner, so this William was called William the Bastard. There is a very famous English surname Bastard, that was exactly originated from this 11th century Viking-French descendant, William the Conqueror, the former Duke of Normandy. William was very brave and also very cruel. During a siege of the town of Alencon, the inhabitants made the mistake of banging on sheets of leather and shouting, "Hides! Hides for the tanner!" in a goading reference to William's mother who was a tanner's daughter. Whether William was sensitive about his illegitimacy or his mother's low birth, the Alencons certainly lived ...
One Thousand And One Nights of Dreams:-- Come True!